GOP Official Blames ‘Hacker’ For Racist Meme Posted To Her Facebook Page

Colorado’s GOP Chair Distancing Herself From Racist Facebook Post

This is an update of our previous story on GOP Chair Linda Sorenson. You can read our initial report here.

At first, Colorado GOP Chair Linda Sorenson said that a racist meme on her Facebook page that depicted President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee was only a joke. Then GOP officials blamed a hacker for the image.

The Delta County Republican Central Committee chairwoman shared the meme on her Facebook page last week. It depicts Ronald Reagan nursing a chimpanzee. Surrounding the photo is the phrase, “I’ll be damned…Reagan used to babysit Obama.” The image comes from Reagan’s movie Bedtime for Bonzo.Reverb Press reported on the story earlier this month, and you can see a screenshot of the meme here.

At first, she said she didn’t care if it bothered people.

“I really don’t care if people are offended by it,” she said. “Un-friend me. Stop looking at me on Facebook.”

Her statement has done a bit of morphing since then, however, and fortunately part of that included removing the offensive image. Now party officials say a hacker posted the racist meme to make them look bad.

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“This whole thing is a hoax,” said Vic Ullrey, the committee’s vice chairman. “It was hacked and somebody got into it, definitely.”

And one official blamed a progressive website for planting the image.

“We believe it has something to do with Media Matters,” said DCRCC treasurer Sue Whittlesey. “They ‘ve been harassing her the last few weeks.

Well, that’s one way to attempt to wiggle out of an uncomfortable spot, but certainly the fact that the image wound up on a Republican party official’s Facebook page–hacked or not–pretty much says something about Colorado Republicans, now doesn’t it?

Asked if Sorenson is a racist, he said “Absolutely not.” When asked if he’s ever heard her make racist remarks, he responded “never.”

Sorenson has been the committee chairwoman for the past four years, Ullrey noted. The organization consists of two members from each of the county’s precincts, and is mainly responsible for coordinating activities for the Delta County Republican Party prior to general elections.

Megan was born and raised in Ventura, California. She has since lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Mexico, and Costa Rica. While she has always been a liberal, her travels have informed her politics. She has worked for more than 25 years as a professional journalist writing about crime, the police, local politics, feature stories, environmental issues and a variety of other topics. She now writes for Reverb Press.

Megan supports Black Lives Matter and fights against racism, sexism, the corporatocracy, climate change deniers and others who continue to destroy the planet.